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WONG PICKED OFF FIRST |
BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
2013 WORLD SERIES,
GAME #4
Papi's dugout speech
ignites
the Sox bats
October 27, 2013 ...
The Red Sox like the urgency. It has brought out the best in them all year long. David Ortiz didn't wait to find out. In the middle of the game, sensing his team was a
little tight, Ortiz pulled his troops together in the dugout and demanded that they, well, calm down. There were probably a few choice words along the way, but the message was delivered and responded to.
Nobody responded better than Jonny Gomes, who swung the momentum back to Boston's side with a signature moment, a three-run homer with two outs in the top of the sixth that led the Sox to
a 4-2 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. There was a collection of other Boston players who stepped up in this one. Adding to the storyline of Gomes getting the big hit was that he wasn't even supposed to start the game. But
Shane Victorino was scratched 90 minutes before the first pitch with lower back tightness, and in came Gomes as the starting left fielder while Daniel Nava shifted to right.
And when the blast by Gomes soared into the Sox bullpen, Ryan Dempster retrieved it on one hop. As Gomes talked to the media after the game, Dempster gave him the baseball.
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JONNY GOMES HR |
Things were still plenty interesting after the long ball by Gomes made it 4-1. The bullpen was tested, but it largely came through, backed by big performances from Felix Doubront,
Junichi Tazawa and, yes, even John Lackey, who navigated his way through the eighth in his first relief
appearance since 2004. Lackey, who will start Game 6 at Fenway Park on Wednesday, asked manager John Farrell for the chance to help the team out of the bullpen.
After Lackey got Matt Adams on a groundout, Yadier Molina hit one down the line at third that
Xander Bogaerts made a nice diving stop on, only to make a poor throw to first for a two-base error. A wild pitch moved Molina to third with just one out, but Lackey dug down,
popping up Jon Jay and inducing David Freese into a groundout, keeping the lead at 4-2.
Closer Koji Uehara took it home, recording the final three outs, the last of which came on a pickoff of pinch-runner
Kolten Wong at first. It was the second straight night the game ended in somewhat stunning fashion. This time, the Cards walked off the field with disappointment. And it happened with Carlos Beltran, who has a long history of coming through in the clutch, at the plate.
Still, things were challenging for the Red Sox in the early innings of Game 4. The ailing Clay Buchholz was throwing most of his fastballs in the high 80s, but he was able to hold the
dangerous Cardinals at bay. Still, there was the matter of the offense, which was getting overpowered by Cards righty Lance Lynn. He faced the minimum 12 batters over the first four
innings, allowing one baserunner -- a broken-bat infield tapper by Ortiz.
But the Red Sox bats awakened in the fifth, forcing Lynn to throw 25 pitches. It should come as no surprise that Ortiz started the rally by rifling a leadoff double into the gap in right-center.
Gomes worked a 10-pitch at-bat for a walk. Bogaerts also walked. That set up the slumping Stephen Drew with the bases loaded and nobody out. Drew did his job, getting the run home on a
sacrifice fly to left. Locked in a 1-1 tie, Dustin Pedroia started the game's crucial rally with a two-out single in the top of the sixth. Lynn seemed to have no interest in
pitching to Ortiz and wound up walking him on four pitches. Given all Ortiz has done in this World Series, it seemed like a sound strategy. The Cardinals then went to the bullpen, bringing in righty Seth Maness. Gomes barreled up a 2-2 elevated sinker that easily cleared the wall in left, setting off an eruption in the Boston dugout, not to mention the basepaths, where Pedroia, Ortiz and Gomes gleefully reached
home plate. Just like that, the Sox were up, 4-1.
Early on, all eyes were Buchholz, who has been battling with shoulder fatigue throughout the postseason. Despite his decrease in velocity, the righty got the job done, for the most part, navigating out of some jams. The Cards took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI
single by Beltran. Buchholz came out for a pinch-hitter in the fifth, ending his night. He scattered three hits over his four innings, walking three (one was intentional) and striking out two, with the one run unearned. Doubront gave the Red Sox eight
big outs. He was charged with a run, but it happened on the watch of the suddenly slumping Craig Breslow, who gave up an RBI single to Matt Carpenter in the seventh to make it a two-run game.
The Cardinals would get no closer, and Ortiz could go back to the hotel knowing his words weren't wasted.
Members of the 1967 Cardinals, who beat the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox, were honored before the game, with Bob Gibson throwing out the first pitch. |
